Track aligning device



Feb. 20, 1951 G. F. CARPENTER 2,542,274

TRACK ALIGNING DEVICE Fil ed Sept. 20, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet l W Alll i -11m 11mm H INVENTwE Glen E Carpent Feb. 20, 1951 G. F. CARPENTER TRACK ALIGNING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 20. 1948 VIII/Ill? a INVENTOE Glen F Curgenfer 7 B WXXMM Patented Feb. 20, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TRACK ALIGNING DEVICE Glen F. Carpenter, Chicago, 111.

Application September 20, 1948, Serial No. 50,120

4 Claims.

This invention relates generally to aligning devices and in particular to a device for aligning the rails in a railway track system supported on ties.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved rail aligning device.

A further object of this invention is to provide a rail aligning device of a construction such that on the application of an aligning force on the rail, the device is maintained substantially stationary relative to its supporting surface.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a rail aligning device which is readily located in a rail aligning position and adapted to engage a rail over its free length or at a joint connection therein.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a rail aligning device in which a groundengaging anchor member functions to substantially balance the counter force, set up by the rail, against the moving force of the aligning device whereby to maintain the device against movement away from the rail.

A feature of this invention is found in the provision of a rail aligning device in which a rail-engaging jack member is movable longitudinally of the aligning device. Pivoted holding and working pawls are maintained by gravity in operative association with the jack member, with the holding pawl being supported on a body member of the device and the working pawl being supported on a manually operated handle. A lost motion connection between the pawls provides for the successive disengagement of the pawls from the jack member in response to a release of the holding pawl.

Another feature of this invention is found in the provision of a rail aligning device in which anchor member, extended transversely of the device, is projected downwardly from the base member of the device. The anchor member is arranged substantially intermediate the ends of the base member and has a first section inclined downwardly and forwardly from the base member and a second section inclined downwardly and rearwardly from the lower end of the first section.

Further objects, features and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

1 is a side elevational view of the rail aligning device of this invention shown in an engaged position with a rail, and with parts broken away for clarity of construction;

Fig, 2 is a plan view of the rail aligning device, with parts broken away to more clearly show its construction;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 33 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional View as seen on the line 44 in Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a holding and working pawl assembly which forms part of the rail aligning device.

With reference to the drawings, the rail aligning device of this invention is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, as including a body member, designated generally as It], comprised of a fiat base member i! and a pair of transversely spaced longitudinal upright supports I2. The upper ends of the supports I2 are connected together adjacent their upper ends by a pair of longitudinally spaced braced or connecting members I3.

The inner sides of the upright supports I2, at the lower ends of supports I2, are cut away or grooved, as indicated at I4 (Fig. 4) so as to form with the top surface It of the base or plate member II a pair of oppositely arranged longitudinal guideways H for receiving a jack member I8 in a slidably supported position on the base I6. Stated otherwise, the jack member I8 is guidably supported between the lower ends of the upright supports I2 for guidable movement longitudinally of the base member I I.

The forward end IQ of the jack member I8 (Fig. 3) is of a substantially C-shape having its upper hook portion 2| terminating at a position forwardly of its lower hook portion 22. The lower hook 22 constitutes a supporting shoulder or rest which is adapted to receive in a supported position the base section 23 of a rail 24, as illustrated in Fig. 1. The hook 2| is utilized to engage a usual angle bar (not shown), when the device is used for aligning purposes at a rail connection or joint, since the angle bars often extend laterally of the rail beyond the transverse confines of the rail base 23 so as to interfere with a supported position of the rail base on the lower hook 22.

The upper side of the jack I8, rearwardly of its forward end I9, is formed with a rack or tooth section 26 (Figs. 2 and 3) adapted for operative engagement with a holding pawl 21 and working pawl 28. The holding pawl 21 (Figs. 3, 4 and 5) is of a substantially U-shape and has a pin 3! extended in a fixed position through its base or rear end 29. The opposite ends of the pin are carried in the upright supports, so that the holding pawl is pivotally movable in an up and down direction between the supports I2. Mounted on one end of the pin 3|, and to one side of an upright support I2, is a rearwardly extended trip lever 30 integrally formed with a forward counter weight 32. The counter weight functions to maintain the pawl 21 in operative engagement with the rack section 25 by the action of gravity, with such engagement being released on downward movement of the trip lever 30.

The working pawl 28 has its rear end pivotally supported at 33 between bifurcation 34 formed at the lower end of a handle socket 35 which is pivoted at 37 between the upright supports l2 at a position above the pivot 3! for the holding pawl 21. A manually operated handle (not shown) is adapted to be inserted within th socket portion 38 of the socket member 36.

As best appears in Fig. 5, the working pawl 28 is arranged between the leg portions. 35 of the holding pawl 27. An upright. projection M at the free or forward end of the pawl 23 extends upwardly above the top level of the holding pawl 21 and carries a transversely extended stop pin 42,, the'QppQSite. ends of which extend over the legs 38 of the holding pawl21.

Thus to move the jack member It forwardly, or to the left, as viewed in Fig. 3, the socket member 35 is pivoted in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 3, whereby the working. pawl 28 is engaged with a tooth in'the rack section. During this forward movement of the jack member la the holding pawl 27 rides on the rack section 26, out of engagement with a forwardly located tooth and into engagement with an adjacent rearwardly located tooth. On manipulation of the socket member 36 in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 3, the jack i8 is held in a moved. position by the holding pawl 2?, concurrently'with the movemento-f the working pawl 23 toa next feeding or jack operating position. Thus in. response to the pivotal movement of the socket member, the teeth in th rack section 25 are successivel engaged by the working pawl 28 to mov the jack member, and then successively engaged by the. holding pawl 21 to maintain the jack member in a moved position. The forward movement of the jack member is limited by a. stop block 40, integral with the jack member and formed at the rear end of the rack section 26.

To release the jack member l8 from engagement with the pawls 21 and 28, the trip lever 35 is moved downwardl-y, or in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 5, against the action of the counter weight 32, so as to raise the forward or free end of the holding pawl 21 out of engagement with the rack section 26. During this upward movement of the holding pawl 2 the leg sections 39 thereof engage and move thev stop pin 42-t0 provide. for a concurrent lifting of the forward end of the working pawl 2-3 out of engagement with the rack section 26. It is seen, therefore, that the arrangement of the legs 39 of the holding pawl 27 below the stop pin 42 constitutes a lostmotion connection between the pawls 21 and 28 which provides for a successive release of the pawls from engaged positions with the rack section, while permitting a free independent movement between the pawls when the jack member i3 is operated.

Withboth of the pawls 21 and 23 lifted or raised out of engagement with the rack section 26, the jack member l8 is freely movable in a rearward direction, or to the right, as viewed in Fig. 3, to a position between the upright supports [2. This rearward movement is automatically accomplished by the provision of a coil spring :33 arranged within a longitudinally extended groove it formed in the bottom side of the jack member l8. The forward end of the spring 53 is connected to a pin 46 carried within the groov 44, while. its rear end. is connected with an upright pin 41 at the rear end of the base member II; The groove 44 is closed by a plate member 50; Thus on an outward or forward movement of the jack member is, the spring 33 is extended, so that on release of the pawls 21 and 28, the member I8 is moved rearwardly thereby between the supports l2.

In use, the base H of the. rail aligning device is supported on the ballast or ground surface 48 and arranged between adjacent ties 45 which support the rail 24 in a well known manner (Fig. 1). The jack I8 is then moved toward the rail section 24 until the rail base section 23 is in a supported position on the hook 22.

With the device thus arranged, the socket member 36 is manipulated in a manner described above, to move the jack l3 forwardl within the guideways l'l. On operation of the jack t8, the rail 24 is moved laterally to the left, as viewed in Fig. 1. By virtue. of the forward movement of the jack T3, the reactive force effected by the rail 26. in a directoin counter to the pushing forceof the jack [8, tends toboth. move the device rearwardl and tilt the front end of the jack I 8 in an upward. and rearward direction.

Because of this counter or reactive force, the rear end 49 of the base I i is forced or pressed downwardly against the ballast 18-. As a result the device is more firmly held against rearward movement on the ballast ifi, with the bearing pressure between the base II and the ballast it? being progressively increased. concurrently with the increase of the pressure applied by the jack. 18 on the rail 24.

To supplement and fully utilize this reactive force of the rail- 2 the base H is provided with a transversel extended anchor member 5| at a position intermediate the. ends thereof. The anchor member 5| (Figs. 3 and l) is integrally formed with an uppersection 52 and a. lower section 53, with the upper section 52 being inclined downwardly and forwardly from the base I I and th lower section 53 being inclined downwardly and rearwardly from its junction 5% with the upper section 5.2. Otherwise stated, the sections 52 and 53 are reversely inclined relative to each other.

As shown in Fig. 4, the opposite sides 56 of the upper section 52 are diverged in a downward direction so that the width of the anchor member 51 at the junction 54 of the sections 52 and 53. is equal to substantially twice the transverse dimension of the base section ti The lower sec- .tion 53 is of a Substantially rectangular shape formed along its lower side with a series of teeth 5'!- tofacilitate the insertion of the anchor member 5| within the ballast 48. Brace or gusset members 58 are connected between the base II and the forward side of the top anchor section 52.

In one embodiment, of the invention, theanchor member 51 has an overall length equal substantially to about one-half of the longitudinal length of the base section H, with the upper section 52 having a length substantially equal to twice that of the lower section 53. In this embodiment the reversed inclination of the sections 52 and 53 is at an angle of about sixty degrees relative to the base section II.

As previously mentioned, the reactive force of the rail 2%- counter to the force exerted or applied by the jack member [8 on the rail 24 tends to lift the forward end of the device 5 0 concurrently with more firmly pressing the rear end 49 of the base ll against the ballast or ground surface 48 in the direction indicated bythe arrow 59. Concurrently with this tilting tendency of the device [0, the reactive force of the rail 24 also acts to move or slide the device I!) away from the rail in a direction indicated by the arrows 6|. It is seen, therefore, that the pressure acting downwardly at the rear end of the device In is in a direction substantially at right angles to the pressure tending to slide or move the device H1 in a rearward direction.

By virtue of the relative construction and assembly of the anchor member 5|, the rearward force, indicated by the arrows 6i, counteracts the downward force indicated by the arrows 59 so as to substantially eliminate the effect of these two forces in tending to move the device In. Stated otherwise, it appears that the ground included between the base H and rear side of the anchor member 5| is compressed or made more compact by the two forces represented by the arrows 59 and BI acting thereon in different directions. In actual tests conducted with the aligning device of this invention, it has been found that the device H) is substantially without any rearward movement as a result of the action of the anchor member 51.

From a consideration of the above description, it is seen that the invention provides a rail aligning device which is of a simple and compact construction, capable of being readily and easily positioned into an engaged position with a rail section, and efficient in operation to move the rail to an aligned position. Due to the construction of the anchor member 5!, the device It is held against movement away from the rail during an aligning operation. Also the jack I8 is readily released for a next aligning operation by merely tripping the pawl release lever 30. The insertion of the anchor member 5| into the ballast or ground 48 may be facilitated by making an initial hole in the ground therefor. Further, the device I!) is readily transportable by the provision of a bale member 02 pivoted on the pivot pin 31 for the socket member 35.

Although the invention has been described relative to a preferred embodiment thereof, it is to be understood that it is not to be so'limited since changes and modifications can be made therein which are within the full intended scope of this invention, as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A device for aligning a rail in a railway track system carried on ties comprising a body member having a longitudinally extended guideway formed therein, a flat base portion for said body member adapted to be positioned on the ground surface between a pair of adjacent ties, a jack member adjustably movable in said guideway for movement longitudinally of said body member, means for holding said jack in an adjusted position, with one end of said jack being movable outwardly from one end of said body member for engaging said rail, and a downwardly projected anchor member on said base portion extended transversely of said body member with the transverse dimension of said anchor member being greater than the transverse dimension of said body member, and said anchor member terminating in a portion inclined downwardly toward the other end of said body member.

2. A device for aligning a rail in a railway track system carried on ties comprising a body member having a longitudinally extended guideway, a flat base portion adapted to be positioned on the ground surface between a pair of adjacent ties, a rail-engaging jack member adjustably movable in said guideway for movement longitudinally of said body member to a position outwardly from one end of said body member, means for holding said jack member in an adjusted position, and an anchor member projected downwardly from said base portion for holding said body member against movement when said jack member is moved against said rail, said anchor member being of a fiat construction extended transversely of said base portion and being formed with a first section tapered laterally outwardly from said base section and a terminal section of a substantially rectangular shape, with said terminal section being in a plane inclined relative to the plane of said first section.

3. A device for aligning a rail in a railway track system carried on ties comprising a body member having a longitudinally extended guideway formed therein, a flat base portion on said body member adapted to be positioned on a ground surface between a pair of adjacent ties, said guideway having one end open to the forward end of said body member, a jack member movably supported in said guideway having a front end of a construction to engage the base section of a rail, and an anchor member for holding said body member against rearward movement when said jack member is moved against said rail comprising a transverse plate member projected downwardly from said base portion at a position intermediate the ends of said base portion and extended laterally outwardly from opposite sides of said base portion, said anchor being comprised of a pair of sections arranged in relatively inclined planes.

4. A device for aligning a rail in a railway track system carried on ties comprising a body member having a longitudinally extended guideway formed therein, a flat base section on said body member adapted to be positioned on a ground surface between a pair of adjacent ties, a jack. member movably supported in said guideway for longitudinal movement outwardly from the forward end of said body member to engage and move a rail, means for moving said jack member, and means for holding said body member against rearward movement away from said rail including a transverse anchor member projected downwardly from said base section and laterally extended from opposite sides of said base section, said anchor member being integrally formed with an upper portion and a lower portion arranged in relatively inclined planes, with said upper portion being of a length equal substantially to twice the length of said lower portion.

GLEN F. CARPENTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 320,288 Warren et al. Jan. 28, 1890 1,569,346 Wilson et al Jan. 12, 1926 2,188,818 Rich Jan. 30, 1940 2,219,577 Neely et al Oct. 29, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 387,675 Great Britain Feb. 7, 1933 

